Posts tagged v2 cigarette

I’ve been waiting for quite some time to try out V2 E cigarettes, quite a few people have told me that this is the E cigarette to get a hold of. So I was amazed when 3 or 4 weeks ago I got an E-mail from V2 Cigs themselves asking if I wanted a sample kit to review. How could I decline such an offer?! So a few days later my kit arrived and it turns out they sent me their Ultimate Kit and a pack of each flavor cartridge they do. I was impressed to say the least, this is the first freebie I’ve had.

Anyway enough chatting, time to get on to how the V2 Cig is. You might think that because I got this E cigarette for free that I’ll be singing its praises regardless of how good it is, this is not true. Everything I write is how I feel, regardless of whether I paid full price for the kit or got it for free.

First Impressions

The first thing I thought when I opened up the box my kit was in was, “How much stuff is in there?”. There seemed to be an endless amount of things coming out, so you certainly do get your $160 worth. There has also been a lot of effort put into making the packaging look the part. The main box with the batteries and chargers in is a good quality cardboard box with a nice magnet strip to keep it closed and its finished with a nice glossy design. Inside the box there is a nice cut foam tray that houses 2 batteries (the third battery in the kit comes in a separate box.) Under that tray you have got your wall charger, USB charger and the first 5 of your refill cartridges. All in all the packaging is very impressive, its good quality, looks good and does what it should.

Batteries And Accessories

As I mentioned you get a lot of equipment in the Ultimate Kit, which is as follows –

3 Batteries

You are able to choose any variation of these three styles of battery for your own kit, it just so happens that I got one of each. The V2 Cigs batteries are all 4.2volts (compared to 3.7volts on a Safe Cig for example) which may not sound like a lot, but it does seem to make quite a difference to the vapor production. At the same time they seem to last longer than other batteries too, how they managed more power and longer duration I don’t know. On the V2 Cigs website they claim the 110mm manual battery will last about 200 puffs of use, I measured this roughly and that’s pretty much exactly what I got in the end. That’s long enough to out last their flavor cartridges. The automatic batteries should last a little longer than this because they activate and shut off automatically.

This is the first time I’ve used a manual battery and I found it to be a lot better than the automatic batteries I’ve used before. You don’t need to work as hard to get a drag out of the cigarette, just push the button and take a normal drag like you would with a tobacco cigarette, there is no need to take a “primer puff” first to get the atomizer warmed up. A few of my friends found it a little odd to push a button while taking a drag, but I guess its down to personal preference, I really like it.

The 140mm long battery is massive, its a little too much for me, I don’t mind using it around the house, but I wont be taking it out in public. Plus it doesn’t fit into any of the cases V2 offer. So if you’re buying a starter kit that has a charging case you really don’t need the 140mm battery.

Charging Time
It is stated that the 110mm battery takes about 2-3 hours to charge, I don’t know if this is just the company being cautious, but I’ve found that my 110mm battery takes about an hour to charge via USB. I guess it would be even quicker if I plugged it into the mains supply. Or maybe I’ve got a questionable battery, I doubt it though.

Various Chargers

A/C Wall Charger, USB Charger, Car ChargerThere isn’t much to say about the chargers really, they are what they are. Though they are good quality and seem to be pretty sturdy. As with most E cigarette brands the USB charger is the main one, the battery screws into that and then this is plugged into either the computer, the A/C or car charger. The one thing I would say is that maybe a second USB charger should perhaps be bought for use with the car charger, this is the type of thing I would forget to pick up on the way out the door in the morning.

V2 PPC (Portable Charging Case)

The charging case seems to be getting more popular, with many brands adding them to their list of accessories. The V2 charging case is a little different to some of the others I’ve seen. It has a little LCD screen on there that tells you how much power the case has got left in it, saving you from getting stuck without power when you are out of the house. While it is similar to the case you get with the Premium Electronic Cigarette, it does seem to be made better. Now that I’ve used this case for a few weeks, I don’t think I could use an E cigarette that doesn’t come with one of these, it really is a useful piece of kit that every user should have.

Non Charging Carry Case

The kit comes with a regular carry case too, one that doesn’t charge up your battery when on the move. Its a nice looking case with a nice felt finish on the inside, there’s enough space for 2 batteries and 2 cartridges. I’m not sure why they include this in the kit, for me the charging case is all that you need.

The V2 Power-Cig

The Power Cig has got to be the best electronic cigarette device I’ve ever used! You plug this into your computer, a lead comes out of it into what looks like a normal manual battery and you screw your nicotine cartridge directly onto it and puff away. This is even more powerful than the V2 batteries, it gives out 5.1volts. Basically what this means is that you get a much bigger hit and it creates masses of vapor, it really is like nothing else I’ve used before. It is as close as you can get to creating the amount of smoke you get with regular cigarettes.

If you spend any length of time at a computer then this perfect for you. Though if you take it to work there is a chance that your boss is going to ask you to stop smoking because it truly does look like thick smoke that you exhale. Even if you buy a less comprehensive starter kit I really recommend buying the Power Cig in addition, it is well worth the $35 that it costs.

Cartridges and Using The V2

V2 Cigs have got a pretty good selection of flavors and nicotine strengths to choose from, I was lucky enough to get a pack of each flavor to try out and a selection of strengths from 6mg (light) up to 16mg (full). With some brands I’ve found that if you get a lower strength of cartridge you lose that throat hit when you take a drag. With the V2 you still get that throat hit with the 6mg cartridges, though it is definitely less noticeable than with the full strength carts. This is good if you are trying to reduce your nicotine intake by using lower strength cartridges. A lot of people miss that throat hit, you wont with lower strength V2 cartridges. Overall the cartridges offer a pretty smooth and pleasant experience, they produce loads of vapor, I’d say more vapor than any other brand. It truly is impressive.

There are a lot of flavors to go through, so I’m just going to give a brief overview of how I found them.

V2 Red Tobacco – Out of the three tobacco flavors this is my favorite, the name tells you all that you need to know really, you are going to get that classic American tobacco taste. Nice and smooth.

Congress Tobacco – The Congress cartridges are not all that different to the Red tobacco cartridges, there might be a slightly more intense flavor to them, but still with that smooth taste.

Sahara Turkish Tobacco – V2 set out to make a Middle Eastern flavor with the Sahara cartridges, I guess they have managed that, there is a very distinct difference between Sahara and the other two tobacco flavors, but its not to my taste. If you smoked Camel tobacco cigarettes then this flavor will probably suit you the best.

Menthol – The menthol cartridges are really nice, a lot nicer than menthol cigarettes are. The flavor is pretty powerful. It leaves a nice taste in your mouth too, but it seems to linger a little too long. I doubt there is much that can be done about that, that’s just the nature of minty flavors. This is one of my favorite cartridges.

Peppermint – Peppermint isn’t the greatest flavor, it’s not bad, there just doesn’t seem to be a lot of flavor if I’m honest. They smell great when you take them out the box, but it doesn’t carry on when you smoke them. I’d rather use the Menthol carts.

Coffee – Coffee cartridges tend to taste more like coffee flavored candy than an actual coffee, so its either a love it or hate it flavor. I love coffee, but I’m not that keen on the taste of these. Coffee carts also seem to give me less of a throat hit than all the others as well.

Chocolate – Chocolate is another one that doesn’t have a very distinct flavor, to me it taste more like another variety of tobacco than chocolate to me, it could do with a little improvement.

Vanilla – The vanilla refills are really nice, not too much flavor and not too little, its just right. I think if they were any stronger and sweeter they would get a bit sickly quite quickly, but that’s not the case, I could easily use these all of the time.

Cherry – Cherry is another flavor that tastes more like a candy, but unlike coffee I really like the cherry flavor, its not my favorite but it does taste really good and quite cherry like.

Cola – I’ve kept cola to the end for a reason, as they say, save the best til last. I absolutely love these cartridges, they taste fantastic, much like cola popsicles I’d eat when I was younger. If you buy a V2 Cig, then you need to make sure you get some cola cartridges to try, I’m sure you’ll love them.

Overall the V2 cartridges are pretty damn good, they taste good and they make unreal levels of vapor, I’d go as far as saying they make more vapor than the much loved “Vapor Monster”, Green Smoke. When you combine then with the manual battery or the Power Cig I don’t think any other brand can beat them for thick vapor production.

Refill Costs

The cost to buy new cartridges for the V2 is pretty reasonable, they start out at $12.95 for 5 ($2.59 each) but there are a number of offers to buy in bulk, this way to can cut down the price to as low as $1.62 each. Considering how good they taste and how much vapor they produce this is a real bargain.

Other Replacement Parts

If you find that you need to replace any parts of your starter kit then everything is available from the V2 store, chargers cost as little as $5, new batteries cost $29.95, regardless of size, color, whether they are automatic or manual. You can also buy the V2 Power Cig for $34.95 and the portable charging case for $44.95. These seem like pretty fair prices for what you get.

Improvements

Like most things V2 Cigs are not perfect, there are some small things I’d like them to change. The main thing is the packaging of the cartridges. The cartridges just come with plastic caps on each end, there is nothing else to seal them. Most other brands tell us that cartridges need to be sealed for longer freshness. So I’d like to see the cartridges individually sealed, air tight, at least. It also gives some peace of mind knowing that no one else will have tampered with them before you use them. Other than that there really isn’t anything to change.

Summing Up

While I had heard good things about V2 Cigs before I had tried them I really didnt think I’d like it this much. The V2 is without doubt my new favorite device. It creates amazing amounts of vapor, it tastes great and comes with a manual battery. But not only that, it doesn’t cost all that much to buy. The Ultimate Kit costs just less than $160, I know that is pretty steep. But to be honest most people are not going to need all that is included in the Ultimate Kit. The Traveller Kit only costs $109.95 and it contains everything I think you need, the Portable Carry Case, the Power-Cig included.

If you’re looking for a quality E cigarette and you buy the V2, chances are it will be the last one you buy as well, its that good!

V2 Cigs Coupon Code

V2 Cigs have sent me a coupon code for my visitors to use when you buy from the V2 store. This code will get you 10% off of everything in their store. That code is ecigarettesbuy. I hope that’s of some use to you all.